No, that title is not a typo. I fully intended on misspelling the word education for the urban slang term edumacation, which is just a silly way of saying I’ve been swamped with educating myself for advancement opportunities I’m currently seeking in my professional life. Unfortunately, I’ve been edumacating myself and taking a whole host of tests for certification purposes while being sick, but nothing keeps this ‘ol girl down.

Furthering my education professionally, and getting my hands on the final test results and official certifications to add to my ever-growing collection of certificates of achievement and professional licenses, are among some of my many personal goals set for myself over the last year or two. I don’t care how old a person gets, I’m only 51 now, you’re never to old to learn and create advancement opportunities for yourself in whatever profession is chosen.

In my career profession, there are many options available for advancement and growth. I aim to grab onto every single one of the advancement opportunities available to someone with my level of education, certification/licensing and many years of experience, and see where furthering my edumacation takes me.

Onward and upward is a term I’m known to use quite often, being the type of person who refuses to take no for an answer, and being highly skilled at what I do professionally. Educating myself for advancement opportunities often includes change. Change in professional philosophy based on intense research and advanced education, and sometimes even change in where one performs their professional duties. Change is good for you, and change is good for me too.

Being stagnant doesn’t suit me well at all. I’ve always needed a challenge, new things to learn and do, increased opportunities for greater things especially in my professional life. Getting edumacated (hehehe) in ways that completely change your whole way of seeing your profession and how you choose to fulfill your career/job responsibilities can sometimes be startling, shocking really.

Once reality sets in, after the mental and emotional turmoil and extremely troubling realization that some professional philosophies are nothing but money-driven nonsense, anger and disillusionment sets in. Some forms of formal education should really be called schmeducation. Pure garbage really. One of the reasons I haven’t posted anything new on this blog for a few weeks is due to the fact that several things regarding my profession have been scientifically proven to not only be flat out wrong, but detrimental and harmful to one’s health over the longterm.

I’m in a service profession, providing an important and necessary service to clients in the health industry, and the devastating realization (scientifically proven facts) that at least some of the job responsibilities I’ve personally been responsible to perform or assist in performing are not only unhealthy, but dangerous to one’s health over time. The mental and emotional toll has been enormous, and my conscience no longer allows me to perform those same duties, nor advocate those procedures as safe and effective and healthy.

If there is one thing I’ve learned from furthering my education through research and study, is the vital importance of researching and studying the evidence presented by those who do not agree with a particular health subject, or any subject for that matter. Pick a topic, research and read about the evidence presented on the “for or pro” side, but then do the same research and study on the “against or negative” side of the subject. To say that I wish I knew then what I know now, specifically regarding my chosen health profession, is the understatement of the century.

The fact that I’ve been sick, due to the changing of the seasons, makes wrapping my mind around the scientific evidence against aspects of my profession even harder to deal with. Question authority, always. Questions and doubt are good things in my opinion. Blind faith in authority figures or authority organizations, without taking the time necessary to delve deep into the research study results on any and all health-related topics, is only asking for trouble down the line. Been there done that.

But no more. Having spent the last few weeks coming to terms with the truth behind various health matters in my career profession that are basically drilled into the minds of people through television, news media outlets and a multitude of high-powered health organizations (whose only focus and attention is on money and profits), change is coming my way. And the results are going to include enjoyable challenges, job promotion with much higher pay, continued advancement opportunities, and most important of all to me – a clear conscience. Change is good. Bring it on.

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“Do you accept guest articles on your Grandma Stories blog? If so, what are the requirements for submitting a guest post?” I’m often asked if would accept guest articles on my blogs. Yes, I do accept guest post submissions on Grandma Stories, and you don’t have to be a grandma to write for this blog. I only ask that potential guest writers carefully review the guidelines and requirements for submitting guest posts here before emailing me to ask questions.

To submit articles for publishing on this blog, guest writers must be careful to follow legal standards for content and use of images within their guest posts, and adhere to a few specific guidelines for guest posts. Submitting guest articles for this blog is easy – just email me through the contact form with any specific questions or post topic ideas and I will respond promptly, or just email me with a copy of the guest article being submitted with whatever image is appropriate for the content.

Guest Article Submission Questions and Answers:

• Do guest writers have to have a blog or website of their own? No.

• Do you pay for guest posts? No.

• Do you require guest writers to agree to write and submit articles on a weekly/monthly basis? No.

• How many external links are allowed? Usually two, but sometimes three depending on the length of the article being submitted.

If you have your own website or blog, you can embed a link to it within the guest article and/or linked within your self-written byline paragraph at the bottom of your article that describes you and your site as a way of promoting you and/or your blog site or business.

No affiliate links and no “sponsored posts” are permitted. Guest writers who do not have a website or blog of their own may link to their Facebook page, Myspace page, Twitter page etc, or none at all – it is up to you.

Submit a Guest Article? Why?

Writing guest articles for publication online is a great way of expressing your creativity through words. If you don’t yet have a blog or website of your own but have been considering starting a blog, submitting guest posts helps to “get your feet wet” so to speak. There are many reasons for guest writing on blogs, especially for beginner blog writers wanting to get a couple links pointed at their site to build its search engine rankings.

I often find that people are more creative than they think they are, and writing articles is a great way of expressing that creativity. I’ve had people tell me in detail about a book they read or a product they tried, what they liked or disliked and why, and without even thinking about it for very long they discover they’ve just verbally written a guest article on that topic. When I ask them to write it down or type it out on the computer and send it to me as a guest post, they become very excited about the idea of doing more creative writing projects in one form or another.

Some blog writers are strictly confined within a specific niche on their own blogs and want to widen their horizons by guest posting on other topics of interest to them and others, but don’t want to start a new blog on that topic for various personal reasons.

Before submitting guest articles to me for possible publication on this blog, take the time to consider the kind of articles and subjects that fit best on this site. Grandparenting, Grandparent Visitation Rights, Aging, Health, Recipes, Crafts, Skin Care, Hair Care, Older Women’s Issues, Older Men’s Issues, Gardening, Canning, Recycling, Holidays, Religion/Spirituality, Technology and more. I prefer not to allow guest posts on Politics, nor do I write political opinion articles on any of my blogs, although I’ve been known to share my views on Facebook from time to time.

If you are unsure about a topic you would like to write and submit as a guest post, contact me and ask. I’m pretty easy. Religion, spirituality, bible/scriptural matters relevant to real life and family living are fine, as long as the content of the post is not highly controversial or inflammatory to individual beliefs or that negatively target specific religions or denominations.

Submitted guest articles do not have to be perfect, and I rarely ever reject guest posts unless the article has so many spelling/grammar mistakes that I would end up needing to virtually rewrite the entire article myself. Guest articles are run through spell checker and grammar checker, and I verify outbound link destinations and punctuation. Other than that, no changes will be made to the actual content of your guest article.

Submitted guest articles must be your own original work and must not be republished anywhere else on the web. No duplicate content. Articles are checked for duplicity with copyscape and google. Articles must have a minimum of 650 words, 800 + words are preferred, and image(s) must be free of copyright use restrictions and optimized appropriately. If you have an idea for a guest post you would like to submit, pitch your idea by emailing me through the contact form and I will reply promptly.

Guest articles should be submitted via word doc with desired image(s) attached. Once the submitted article is approved and published on the blog, the author will be notified via email along with a courtesy link to their published article. I retain the legal right to publish, edit or reject any/all article submissions for this site to maintain the integrity and reputation of the site and site owner (me). Guest article submissions requiring extensive editing will be returned to the author for rewriting, and if necessary rejected.

To submit a guest article for publication or if you have further questions about guest posting on my blog(s), email me your questions and check your inbox (or possibly the spam folder as it may filter there) for my prompt reply.

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Super Bowl XLV kickoff starts in just a few hours from now, and we’re preparing our favorite Super Bowl snacks, dips and recipes for a fun Super Bowl party with family and friends. We’ve decided to add two more snacks for our Super Bowl Sunday gathering, the BLT Dip (bacon, lettuce and tomato dip), and the delicious Buffalo Chicken Dip commonly referred to as Buffalo Dip.

Our Super Bowl watching party would not be complete without many of the most popular snacks football fans want to have and enjoy while watching the Big Game. Buffalo Chicken Dip, BLT Dip, hot and spicy chicken wings, Frito chips and bean dip, popcorn, shrimp dip, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole, vegetable tray with dipping sauces, bbq chicken, potato skins, pasta salad, pizza, and my famous Mexican 7-layer dip. We’re skipping the chili this year.

Buffalo Dip recipes can be made with chicken, franks, blue cheese and various other ingredients, and can be prepared quickly or slow-cooked in a crock pot. We’re making the quick and easy Buffalo Chicken Dip and BLT Dip for our Super Bowl party this year, so we can spend more time enjoying guests and less time in the kitchen. Our favorite BLT Dip recipe uses cream cheese, but other times we’ve used light sour cream and light mayonnaise for a more healthy snack.

BLT Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese

• 1/2 C ranch salad dressing

• 1 medium size seeded and diced tomato, reserve 1 T for garnish

• 6 crisply cooked and chopped bacon slices

• 1/2 C finely chopped celery

• 2 T finely chopped onion

• 1 t sugar

• Medium size serving bowl, chilled

• Lettuce leaves

How to Make BLT Dip

Place softened cream cheese in a medium size mixing bowl. Gradually stir in dressing; mixing until blended well together.

Add to the cream cheese mixture: chopped bacon, celery, onion, tomato, sugar; mix well.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow flavors to blend.

When ready to serve, line your chilled serving bowl with lettuce leaves, then fill with the chilled BLT Dip. Lightly garnish the dip with reserved 1 tablespoon of diced tomato. Serve with your favorite dippers such as crackers, chips or toasted bread.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

• 1 (10 ounce) can chicken, drained (or freshly-cooked, rotisserie, chopped chicken)

• 1 cup ranch dressing

• 3/4 cup Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce red hot sauce

• Cheddar cheese, (amount to your liking)

• Frito corn chip scoops, crackers, celery/vegetable dippers, toasted bread

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

With your mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, ranch dressing, and red hot buffalo wing sauce until blended well.

Gently fold in shredded chicken. Spread buffalo chicken dip mixture onto pie plate lightly sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Add cheddar cheese on top and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve the buffalo chicken dip hot with your favorite dippers, Frito scoops, chips, crackers, toasted bread, etc.

When we make the Buffalo Chicken Dip, sometimes we use Texas Pete Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Sauce, but other times whatever hot sauce we have on hand.

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Making a homemade chicken pot pie is quick and easy, if not downright simple. Chicken and turkey pot pie recipes are so easy that even a beginner cook can easily make any kind of pot pie and quickly realize it’s not impossible at all.

The Bisquick chicken pot pie is quick and easy too, but Pillsbury and Betty Crocker also have their own recipe for chicken pot pie, and both recipes are easy, yummy and super fast. Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie tastes a lot better than the Banquet chicken pot pies in the grocery store, but beef or turkey pot pies are nowhere as good as the chicken.

Banquet recalled all of their frozen turkey pot pies and chicken pot pies a couple of years ago, after a salmonella outbreak caused 100 people to get sick, so Grandma’s Kitchen hasn’t had Banquet brand pot pies for awhile now. After reading the Marie Callender and Banquet chicken pot pie nutritional chart and seeing the astounding amount of sodium, fat and other unhealthy facts in both, the decision to make our own turkey or chicken pot pies was easy.

Some might say that this homemade chicken pot pie recipe isn’t really homemade because it calls for a ready-made pie crust vs. a pie crust make from scratch with dough, but to each his own on that regard. Quick and easy is best for our schedule, so a ready-to-bake crust fits perfectly with our busy schedule, but if you have the time and desire to make your own pie crust, by all means go for it. Just follow these easy instructions and you’ll be enjoying homemade chicken pot pie in no time flat.

Easy Yummy Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, boiled

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of potato soup

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

• Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry.

• Blanch frozen mixed vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.

• Dice chicken and place in a large bowl. Add vegetables, thyme, celery soup and potato soup. Stir together.

• Pour filling into pastry lined pie dish. Arrange top layer of pie crust, seal and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow for steam to escape.

• Place pie on cookie sheet. Put aluminum foil around the pie crust edges to help prevent burning.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and then serve. Quick, easy, homemade chicken pot pie that is yummy too!

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If you have never tried any of the variations of Napa Valley Spinach Salad, you are really missing out on a delicious salad option. We eat a lot of salad, with a meal or as the main dinner meal all by itself. Typical “dinner salad” that consists of the basics many people include in their salads can get boring real fast, so we always try to come up with healthy recipes that offer different ideas of fruits and/or vegetables to add to our salads for variety and taste.

I recently enjoyed a version of the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with chicken at one of my favorite lunch spots, and couldn’t wait to make the salad at home for my family and visiting friends. To say that the Spinach Salad was a hit for everyone would be an understatement. There are many different ways of making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad, but the differences only amount to what fruits and/or vegetables you like or don’t like, as most of the ingredients are optional according to your tastes and likes.

I use Feta cheese as a topping on some of my own salads, while others may like goat cheese in one of its variations. The goat cheese or feta cheese topping is of course optional as well, so it doesn’t “ruin” the salad if you choose not to use either of the cheeses. Making the Napa Valley Spinach Salad is fast and easy, and most of the ingredients are those we usually buy at the grocery store anyway and almost always have on hand.

Grandpa sometimes makes a fresh spinach salad with just spinach, strawberry slices and balsamic dressing lightly tossed, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. The Napa Valley Spinach salad has a lot more ingredients added to the fresh spinach, and now our salads are as if we’re enjoying our own salad bar at home.

Napa Valley Spinach Salad with Pinot Noir Shallot Vinaigrette Dressing

Even though the spinach salad I enjoyed so much at my favorite lunch restaurant included finely diced shallots, I opted not to use shallots when I made this recipe at home. Given the fact that most salads make very healthy meals, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about the specific “nutritional value” amounts, and just added each vegetable or fruit ingredient to taste rather than following some rule about “a cup of this, or cup of that”.

To make the Napa Valley Spinach Salad with vinaigrette dressing, purchase the following ingredients (those you like) and toss them all together in a large bowl. For the vinaigrette dressing, I bought the Red Wine and Vinegar dressing by Marie, which I found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. There are recipes online on how to make Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing, with or without shallots, but I was thrilled to find what I believe to be the perfect dressing for this salad to buy rather than making it myself.

• Fresh spinach (I purchased two 9 oz. bags of fresh spinach) and the salad was enough for four people, as the main meal.
• Grilled chicken – thin slices or chunks
• Crisp bacon – “Real Bacon” bits in a jar is fine too
• Fresh mushrooms – thinly sliced
• Fresh strawberries – sliced or chopped
• Sun-dried cranberries (or sun-dried raisins)
• Julienne red onions
• Granny Smith apples – thinly sliced or chopped
• Candied pecans – (I used cinnamon pecans found in small bags in the produce section)
• Fresh tomato – wedges, slices or chopped
• Goat cheese – lightly crumbled as a topping, or Feta cheese
• Pinot Noir Vinaigrette dressing – or Red Wine Vinegar dressing (Marie’s version is great for this salad!)

The restaurant where I often go for lunch had the thinly sliced granny smith apples and sliced tomato around the edges of the plate, to add color and visual appeal, rather than everything within the salad itself. Keep in mind that these ingredients are optional, so if there are ingredients listed that you don’t particularly like, leave it out of the salad. If there are other “salad bar” type ingredients you or your family like, such as chick peas, go ahead and add them to your Napa Valley Spinach salad.

Eating salads is of course a healthy meal option, whether the salad is the main meal or as a side dish, but having a variety of healthy salad options to change things up at the dinner table sure helps in keeping salad from becoming boring and dull. No one wants to feel as though they “have” to eat salads that are boring and monotonous week after week, so finding a variety of healthy salad recipes that are fun and enjoyable for the whole family has been a priority that tastes great.

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Learning how to make deviled eggs via deviled egg recipes in cookbooks for Easter Sunday has been made easier by Rachel Ray. Rachel Ray has posted her Deviled Eggs recipe for everyone to make and enjoy.

Hopefully you already know how to boil eggs or how to make hard-boiled eggs, but from the look of things online it appears many young people especially don’t know how to do these very simple things.

Rachel Ray’s recipe for deviled eggs is below, including ingredients and detailed directions of how to make Rachel’s scrumptious deviled eggs. Happy Easter and Enjoy!

Rachel Ray Deviled Eggs Recipe

Ingredients:

12 large eggs Ice water
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper
Paprika, for dusting

Instructions:
- In a large pot, arrange the eggs in a single layer and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and remove from the heat; let stand for 10 minutes. Drain, then cover the eggs with ice water. Let stand until cool to the touch.
- Peel the eggs, halve lengthwise and scoop the yolks into a medium bowl, reserving the egg whites. Mash the yolks with the mayonnaise, mustard and cayenne; season with salt and black pepper. Spoon the yolk mixture into the egg white halves and dust with paprika. Easy!

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New year’s eve celebrations around the world traditionally include dinner parties, firework shows, singing songs, watching Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC, plus the New Year’s kiss at the stroke of midnight. Year’s ago, celebrating New Year’s Eve may have meant getting all dressed up and heading out to a number of New Year’s Eve parties, but this year we’ll celebrate the holiday at home.

In year’s past, looking for things to do on New Year’s Eve was fun and exciting. Maybe we’ve just gotten too old for extravagant parties where everyone is drinking to excess and then stupidly driving while they are clearly intoxicated.

We will still prepare a New Year’s Eve dinner with all the traditional fixings, but to tell you the truth, I do not like black-eyed peas so we’re going to have to come up with a new recipe if I am going to eat any of those.

While many people will be out and about town searching for things to do and places to go watch fireworks, we’ll be content to celebrate the ringing in of the New Year at home, safe and sound. In previous years, we’ve managed to stay awake long enough for the traditional ball dropping in Times Square to finish, but we’re on a different time zone than NY so we’ll share a kiss and go to sleep earlier than most.

New Year’s Eve songs like the traditional Auld Lang Syne will be sung in celebration of the new year. Until recently I didn’t know that the song is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns and when translated into English literally means “old long since”, “long long ago” or “days gone by”. I’m trying to memorize the Auld Lang Syne lyrics and maybe just maybe actually learn the lyrics by heart and not forget them again. My memory must be slipping!

Popular New Year’s Eve Songs

• Auld Lang Syne

• Let’s Start the Year Right

• It Was a Very Good Year

• It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve

• What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

• Same Old Lang Syne

• Happy New Year

• The New Year

• A Long December

• New Year’s Eve by The Walkmen

• New Year’s Day by U2

• What a Wonderful World

Auld Lang Syne Video Song

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy New Year to you and yours! I’ll be busy downloading my favorite versions of these songs New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day for sure, since there are so many different singers and performers.

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The Gooseberry Patch cookbook for kids called Kids in the Kitchen includes recipes that kids of all ages, including preschoolers, toddlers and older kids can enjoy the fun of cooking in the kitchen with mom or dad, or even Grandma and Grandpa.

Kids need to be in the kitchen rather than being shooed away, so children can learn the basics of nutrition, healthy food choices, correct portion sizes and much more. Gooseberry Patch cookbooks are not just for adults, and as a Grandma who raised 6 kids and now has two grandchildren, I love the great ideas found in these cookbooks for kids.

Cooking with kids in the kitchen is a fun activity that should be encouraged rather than discouraged. The Kids in the Kitchen: Recipes for Fun cookbook was designed exclusively with little kids in mind, and the list of recipes found in this cookbook will help little chefs want to learn how to cook lots of good food!

Kids in the Kitchen Cookbook for Kids

This delightful Kids in the Kitchen cookbook is loaded with recipes and goodies kids can make themselves, like “breakfast banana split” and “easy-as-pie spaghetti bake” plus crafty recipes like “homemade face paint”. This children’s cookbook includes thoughtful safety reminders, fun facts and charming full-color artwork too. The wipeable cover and 80 durable pages is kid-friendly and makes a great gift for kids.

The recipes and fun ideas in this cookbook are all easy and quick for kids to prepare and make. A review of the cookbook says, “This cookbook is filled with a lot of wonderful recipes that the kids can really make and they taste great. There is also craft recipes; play clay, face paint, bubble mix, dog biscuits and Goopy goo. Our family has really had a lot of fun with this book—a must have!”

Another reviewer says, “I noticed the cookbook because of the cover and bought it and the monkey measuring spoons for my 8-year old granddaughter. The recipes are kid friendly. My favorite is the breakfast banana split. We love the recipes in the back for bubbles, goop, etc.”

The list of recipes in this kids cookbook goes on and on. Besides those already mentioned, other breakfast meal recipes include things like “toad in the hole”, “jam surprise muffins” and more. Snack recipes include “bagel pizza”, “ham & cheese roll-ups”, “baked French fries” and delectable dessert treats like “crispy monkey pops” that even little kids can make.

Dinner type meals include recipes like “Texas straw hats”, “baked mac & cheese”, “easy cheesy quesadillas”, “easy-as-pie spaghetti bake” and much more. Sections include Breakfast, Anytime Snack, Dinnertime, Desserts and Just For Fun. Little kids will be thrilled to use their imaginations to create new ideas, and there are also adorable kid sized small kitchen utensils like the monkey measuring spoons and the kids apron set that are just the right size for kids.

Kids in the Kitchen Year’round Fun Cookbook is another fun cookbook by Gooseberry Patch with kid-friendly recipes for celebrating year ’round holidays…Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. You’ll even be ready for fun holidays like Friendship Day and Ice Cream Day. Kids will love the recipes for “funny-face pizzas”, “jungle malts”, “twistin’ tomato pasta” and “howlin’ good snack mix”…while parents and grandparents appreciate the safety tips to keep kids safe while cooking in the kitchen.

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Beer perfume (EOS) is aimed to attract beer loving dudes and the perfume supposedly helps the planet too. What, Eco-Friendly Beer Perfume perhaps? Apparently so, according to news reports announcing the release of the new beer perfume by Washington perfume company, Sweet Anthem, along with Blue Marble Energy, which is a Seattle based recycling company.

Beer perfume? Really? Are ladies so desperate to get a man that they would actually consider using a beer smelling perfume to attract a guy? Believe it or not, but you can actually buy a 1/2 ounce bottle of this limited edition fragrance “Eos for Her” directly from Blue Marble (bluemarble.net) for just $30. Oh yeah, there is also a Eos for Him too in case you’re interested, but it’s called the “unisex” version.

Eos for Her contains neroli, sandalwood, green tea, and banana; while Eos for Him contains cognac, honeysuckle, white ginger, apricot, and candied fruits. Not only that but the Eos fragrance line is presented in “elegant, square glass bottles with silver metallic caps with roll-on applicators”, and the silver-stamped tags were handmade by local jeweler Carolyn Buss. Ain’t that sweet?!

One of the many ingredients in the perfume is “organic spent brewery grain” from nearby Freemont Brewery. The beer perfume “for her” is described as “a green bright floral, tea-based scent. Very modern and feminine”, while the male or masculine unisex version of the perfume is described as “citrus and cognac with hints of powdery apricot. Equally appropriate for men and women.” It also includes “Propyl Butyrate (bioester), White Ginger, Apricot, Cognac and Honeysuckle.”

News reports say “Seattle’s Blue Marble Energy chemists are cooking up a perfume made from the waste products of a local organic brewery. James Stephens of Blue Marble Energy says the product is a viscous sludge – a mixture of about 50,000 different kinds of bacteria. Black sludge, rancid beer grains, green slimey stuff and it’s all good for the earth and you.” Completely carbon neutral. And…? Does it really smell like beer?

Umm, after reading the description, am I really supposed to say this new perfume sounds lovely and delightful and I’ll rush right out and buy this stuff? I think not, especially after reading King5’s review saying Eos does NOT smell like beer… at all. Well shucks! And here I was thinking I could spritz on a bit of “refined beer sludge” and really spice things up tonight with Grandpa! Dammit!

I was really hoping to tell Allyn Hale about this beer perfume so maybe he’d do a kick-ass review on his Big Beer Blog just for laughs. You Whoooo!!! Allyn!!! Are you up for doing a perfume review that doesn’t smell like beer perhaps? It would be a HOOT! You can even use F-bombs if you wanna. Ha!

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Repairing drywall cracks in drywall, due to foundation settling from the extreme heat we get in Texas, started before my husband fell through the ceiling and we had to learn about repairing large ceiling holes in a textured ceiling. If you have ever had cracks in your foundation and needed to know how to fix or repair cracks in drywall, let me tell you right now, doing these repairs yourself is a pain in the butt.

Having to fix foundation cracks is a costly project, plus the cost of repairing or replacing broken brick on the exterior of the house, and replacing shrubs or bushes that were destroyed in the process. Getting our green grass to grow back again isn’t a big deal at all, and we’re not the least bit worried about regrowing grass right now. I know people who decided to fix their cracked foundation themselves, rather than hiring a foundation specialist to do the repairs, but that is one do-it-yourself project that has “Hell No” written all over it.

As a homeowner, doing repairs or home improvement projects comes with owning a house, that’s for sure. Being able to fix drywall cracks on the interior of the house ourselves, with the help of an experienced carpenter in the family, is saving us a lot of money in the long run.

Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to go far to learn how to patch drywall cracks, and I was happy and relieved to find out that do-it-yourself drywall repairs to repair damaged drywall doesn’t take very long to finish. If we didn’t have our own carpenter to rely on to help us repair the drywall, something tells me that our DIY project to patch the drywall plus taping, bedding, texturing, painting and finishing the walls would have brought on a lot of cussing and do-overs.

Foundation Problems Warning Signs

• Cracks in the ceiling or walls

• Separation of ceiling trim or crown molding

• Cracks in interior walls near corners of doors or windows

• Obvious cracks in exterior brick and mortar

• Windows, doors and wall joints cracking and pulling away from each other

• Doors that are sticking or have been shaven at the top

• Door sill separates from the door frame

• Cracks and/or leaks in and around the brick fireplace wall

• Noticeable change in elevation or “slope” of the floor when walking

• Cracks in ceramic tile

• Tears, wrinkles or separating wallpaper

• Previous or existing sheetrock repairs showing signs of curling or tearing

• Windows that stick or are very difficult to open/close

• Drywall nails popping out of sheetrock, gypsum board or corner frames

I don’t know all of the causes of foundation problems, but extreme heat is one we know all too well here in Texas. If we had to do all of this drywall work completely on our own, without our trusted carpenter to help us, there are “how-to” videos online that teach how to fix drywall cracks and even videos about how to tape drywall that would come in very handy.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with our foundation problem or is related at all to having to repair cracked drywall or not, but it seems odd that we had ant problems for a short time during this whole ordeal. As soon as the foundation was fixed, closed and sealed up, the ant problem disappeared completely.

I don’t know if these were just your ordinary household ants or if they were carpenter ants, but Grandpa mentioned something about Rasberry crazy ants being a big problem in Houston, Texas in recent years and that the crazy ant problem is spreading.

Oh great, just what we need. A crazy ant invasion taking over our homes and neighborhoods. Ick. Why I keep wanting to spell Rasberry ants as Raspberry crazy ants with a P, I don’t know, but who would have thought that repairing drywall cracks and fixing foundation problems would make me think of raspberry jelly? I crack myself up sometimes.

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